No one likes a control freak (trust me, I know), but when we are talking about AV connectivity, if you have no control, you might as well call the Ghostbusters (am I dating myself, already?)

With that in mind, we decided that a bit of clarification on the topic of control signals and HDBaseT was in order, and we asked one of our experts to conduct a webinar on the topic.  The webinar took place a couple of weeks ago, and if you missed it, you may want to listen to the recording here.

As I hope you know, HDBaseT transmits several control interfaces, such as RS-232, CEC, and IR (Type A&B), over 100m of category cable.  In the webinar, we discussed each of these control interfaces, and how they are transferred over the HDBaseT channel.

For example, did you know that:

• HDBaseT cannot be transmitted through an Ethernet switch, but Ethernet can be transmitted through HDBaseT?
• You can damage your equipment if you use an audio cable for the CIR 3.5 mm port?
• You may use a mid-span power-over-HDBaseT (PoH) injector?
• HDBaseT supports all four USB transfer types?
• SPDIF audio channels are transmitted independently from the HDMI signal?

In addition, there are several issues that depend on each manufacturers’ implementation, and it’s important to identify them to guarantee hassle-free installation and even interoperability.

Do you know if:

• The audio for the ARC channel is being extracted from the HDMI signal or from the HDBaseT receiver?
• The projector you are using has been configured as a Power Source Equipment (PSE) to drive power to the receiver?
• Your HDBaseT equipment support dual-transmit diodes in the IR channel?
• Your source & receiver equipment support IR type A or type B?

Bottom line – if you haven’t yet, time to check out the Control Signals over HDBaseT webinar.  You will thank me later.